Lorain Councilman Arroyo pleads no contest in incident with police

Lorain City Councilman Angel Arroyo Jr. pleaded no contest and was found guilty of two offenses from his run-in with Lorain police in December 2017.

Arroyo, 35, who represents Ward 6 in South Lorain, appeared in Lorain Municipal Court on Feb. 7 and was found guilty of disturbing the peace and obstructing official business, according to court records.

Charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct by fighting and disorderly conduct by intoxication were dismissed, according to court records.

Arroyo was sentenced to pay $500 in restitution and $300 in fines, according to court records.

The charges stemmed from an incident early Dec. 2, 2017.

The night before, Arroyo went out with friends to celebrate his birthday at an Oberlin Avenue restaurant, according to the Lorain police report. Eventually that led to an encounter with Arroyo and police outside the Jenee Drive home of a friend of Arroyo.

Arroyo claimed he was not intoxicated, but when he refused to cooperate with police, officers took him into custody, according to the report.

“I apologize to the people,” Arroyo said. “I appreciate those that supported me over the past few months. I apologize to the City Council members, to the city, my family.

“Now it’s time for me to move forward,” he said. “That’s what I’ve done and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Arroyo said he will repay money spent for a special prosecutor.

“It was a personal matter, I took care of it and I’m moving forward with my responsibilities for fighting for the people of the city of Lorain,” he said.

Arroyo noted he intends to continue his public service projects in the Lorain community and with a relief trip to Puerto Rico, where residents continue to deal with damage from hurricanes last year.The police investigation started about 11:17 p.m. Dec. 1, when officers responded to the area of Oberlin Avenue and West 42nd Street for a call of a man being dragged by another man, the report said. Upon arrival police found nothing to substantiate the complaint.

About 12:29 a.m. Dec. 2, police were dispatched to 4387 Jenee Drive for a report of an intoxicated man refusing to leave, the report said.

Officers found the man standing on the sidewalk in front of the residence. The man initially ignored officers’ attempts to get his attention, the report said.

The officers reported they recognized Arroyo due to his official position.

Arroyo claimed that his leg had been run over by a vehicle at Diso’s Bistro at All Nations, 4286 Oberlin Ave. He said his left knee was injured and showed police road rash on his leg, but police reported the injury was not consistent with being run over.

Arroyo declined an ambulance for treatment of the injury.

Police reported smelling a strong odor of alcohol on Arroyo’s breath, but he said he was not intoxicated, the report said.

Arroyo pointed to a neighboring residence and said the man there ran him over. The man, 49, said he was a good friend of Arroyo and they went to Diso’s Bistro to celebrate Arroyo’s birthday which is Dec. 7.

The man said Arroyo became heavily intoxicated and wanted to drive home, but he took Arroyo’s keys to prevent him driving, the report said. To get the keys back, Arroyo jumped on the hood of the man’s vehicle, then fell back to the ground, injuring his knee, the report said.

The man said he then dragged Arroyo from the front of the vehicle by his arms so he would not get run over, the report said. The man said he handed the car keys to Arroyo’s wife, then left, the report said.

On Jenee Drive, the man said Arroyo kept coming up to his front door trying to get him to come outside. However, the man said he did not want Arroyo on his property, the report said.

Speaking to Arroyo, officers offered at least twice to park his vehicle and give him a ride to his home on East 30th Street, the report said.

Due to continued lack of cooperation and refusal to leave, the officers arrested Arroyo for disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, the report said.

Arroyo backed away from officers and stiffened his legs to prevent them from closing the cruiser door. He allegedly kicked the police car windows and at the city jail “repeatedly kicked the holding cell door, refusing to cooperate,” the report said.

Richard Payerchin covers Lorain City Hall, business news and other interesting stories for The Morning Journal. Reach the author at rpayerchin@MorningJournal.com or follow Richard on Twitter: @MJ_JournalRick.